A/N I don't own A:TLA, I just want to play in the world for a while. Hope you enjoy!

The cold wind blasted across Shen's body and he startled awake with a snort, wiping a line of drool from his mouth as he did so. Samayou chuckled and gestured for Shen to join him on Horo's enormous head.

"Here, take the reins," Samayou said, and Shen furrowed his brow in confusion. Had the monk taken leave of his senses? The entire reason he and Shen had met was because Shen had been using Airbending to help a smuggling operation! And they were even now flying to the Northern Air Temple so that judgment could be passed onto Shen. "As you have willingly followed me, I feel safe in giving you chances young one. Not all are as stubborn as the people of the Earth Kingdom, seeing only one side. From what I have learned of you, I doubt you will try to steal Horo and push me off. In fact, if you did I would be in no danger," Samayou said.

Shen was about to make a comment when the Airbender fluidly and completely unexpectedly leapt from the bison's head. Shen felt his heart hammer, thoughts of the consequences of being accused of murdering an Air Nomad flying through his head. Samayou grabbed his staff as he fell past Horo's head, and then he was gone. Shen scrambled to the edge of the large bison's skull and gripped one of her horns in a death-grip. He saw nothing.

A yell caught Shen's attention and he turned to see Samayou cresting out of a cloudbank, hanging from a large fan-like contraption. He did a loop the loop and then a roll as he fell past Shen's line of sight and under Horo's large body, before appearing again on the other side. He drifted up and back to the large head, touching down again next to Shen.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Shen shouted as Samayou's robes swirled in the headwind created by Horo.

"My apologies young one," Samayou said, but the large grin on the man's face made Shen doubt he was sorry at all. "I wanted to demonstrate both how unconcerned I am by the chance of falling, and to show you how good it is when you are one with the air."

"Must be nice. I remember feeling that way sometimes, but it's been a while," Shen said.

"I did notice you having trouble while you were fleeing that Firebender. Have you any idea why?" Samayou asked.

"None," Shen said morosely. He looked away from Samayou and let the wind whistle through the stubble of his hair.

"How is Slobber doing?" Samayou asked, and Shen looked back. The calf had been content to ride on Horo's tail through much of the journey but had been becoming restless with the long flight. He was now flying in an awkward fashion, trailing behind and slightly above the older bison.

"He looks alright," Shen said, watching as a line of drool fell from Slobber's lolling tongue. The calf noticed him watching and waved his first two paws underneath him, pumping his flat tail at the same time. The furry missile shot forward, coming level with Horo's head for a long moment, then falling back again. Slobber let out a high pitched sound similar to Horo's deep moan.

"He's playful," Samayou said, smiling widely at the young bison.

"Yeah. If nothing else I'm glad I got him out of that cage," Shen said.

"I am as well. I was beginning to think I would have to let his fate go where it would," Samayou said.

"You would have stopped searching?" Shen asked.

"Logic dictates that at some point he would have been transported out of the city and any reasonable expectation of recovery. I was nearing the point where I thought I would never intersect with his path," Samayou said, frowning slightly.

"Oh. How long until we get to the Northern Air Temple?" he asked.

"Not long. A few hours at most. Now do you want to learn the basics of steering or do you want to stew in your juices for a little longer?" Samyou asked.

"Steer," Shen said, after considering for a long moment. Samyou handed Shen the reins and began to instruct him on how to handle a Skybison.

Horo, Samayou, Shen and Slobber touched down on a large platform that was almost a stone clearing among the large buildings. Shen had been watching since the temple came into view and even his spiking fear couldn't override the awe he felt in seeing the enormous monastery.

The towers rose into the wind, neither seeming part of the mountain they were based on yet not entirely apart either. The spires fit harmoniously into the craggy mountain's face but they were too obviously man-made to be anything but the work of humans. Shen was reminded of Taku, though this place fit a little less seamlessly. He supposed that with the Earthbender's natural affinity for earthen colors this was expected.

What he hadn't expected were the small copses of trees that huddled between walls and buildings, and that while there were plazas like the one he and Samyou were alighting on, there were also many gardens. Flying lemurs wove among the tops of the spires and hung in the air, and as they'd come in Shen had realized some of the figures weren't monkeys. They'd been people.

A crowd of bald robed men and boys were gathering around the plaza as Samyou calmly slid down Horo's side and Slobber wheeled above them by a few feet. Shen waved his arm and the bison calf stopped cavorting and reluctantly sank to the ground. Shen slid off Horo's back as Samyou finished speaking to a boy a few years older than he. The boy was bald as the rest, though unlike Samyou and the other older men he didn't have tattoos. None of the young ones did either.

"I thought all Air Nomads had tattoos," Shen whispered to Samyou.

"Only those that have mastered the thirty-six tiers of Airbending," Samyou said. "I only recently earned my tattoos."

"The council is read to receive you," the boy that Samyou had sent ahead said, running back in large strides. The throng parted as Samyou walked through the crowd. Shen and Slobber hurried to keep up as Samyou led them up set after set of stairs.

By the time they'd reached the top of the temple Shen was out of breath, and Slobber was trailing behind. Shen felt a pang of jealousy looking at Samyou, who was breathing just as he had at the bottom of the steps and didn't even look as though he'd sweated!

"We're here," Samyou said and gestured for Shen to walk in first. Shen took a deep breath of air into his lungs. It tasted clearer than any air he could remember and seemed to fill him with a calm he'd never before experienced. He pulled back the curtain and walked inside.

On a series of cushions sat four Airbenders. Their robes were similar to Samyou's except that they were more elaborate, with long pieces of orange fabric trailing off them. The shawls were closer to cloaks and the robes were less contained, making it look harder to walk. One had a parisol opened above him, as if he expected it to rain in the closed tower. Though as Shen noticed the large windows with no glass he supposed it might be possible for rain to get in.

He bowed in the style of the Earth Kingdom as he came to a stop in front of the old men. Their eyes were all varying shades of grey as they looked at him, and one angry looking one looked as though he had a stormcloud swirling in his eyes. Samyou stepped up, taking a place slightly in front of Shen and clasped his fists together as he bowed. The arrow tattoos on the backs of his hands pointed at each other.

"Who is this boy?" the angry looking one asked.

"This is the rogue Airbender we've been hearing so much about Master Arashi," Samyou said pleasantly. He sounded as if he were introducing two friends and Shen wanted to wince. He didn't think 'Master Arashi' would take that well.

"I see. I don't recognize him and I don't remember hearing of anyone leaving the order in a long time. I'd thought the rumors were being exaggerated for effect," Arashi said.

"Apparently they were not. Young Shen here did us a service though, he found our missing Skybison calf," Samyou said.

"Intriguing. What was he doing when he found the calf?" Arashi asked.

"I was working for a smuggler, though I didn't know it at the time," Shen said. His voice was humble but his words rang through the large chamber.

"What? Who are you, and why were you...I would hear the full tale, from as close to the beginning as you can," Arashi said, his thunderous eyes narrowing. Samyou told Shen's tale, detailing his loss from the Nomads and his subsequent time in the circus. Then the Marauder attack, and finally how he ended up as the Bald Bandit. The elders' expressions didn't change as they listened to the story, and Arashi only stroked his beard at certain points.

"And then I found him. He has expressed the urge to be punished for his deeds," Samyou said.

"It is not our way to punish those. Do you wish to be taken back to the Earth Kingdom to get a ruling in a court?" Arashi asked.

"Please sir, I will if I must but I want to be judged by my own people. It has been a long time since I stood in these halls, and I wish to know of you, even if it's from a prison cell," Shen said.

"The Air Nomads are not judges boy. We are monks, we let the universe blow us as it may and follow its breeze. If you wish to stay and find redemption you may do so here. But your situation is unprecedented. I have no wish to train an Airbending mercenary, so until we are sure that you won't abuse our teachings you may not leave this temple, even with another Air Nomad. You will learn our ways, and only after you have mastered our teachings and the bending arts will you gain your freedom under our seal. You may leave at any time, but if you do you will be banished from the Air Nomads, never to return to our temples or learn our ways. Do you understand?" Arashi asked.

"I do," Shen said. "Thank you."

"Learn, live and be happy," Arashi said. "But be warned, we will not tolerate violence here. If you harm others or disrupt the lives we lead, you will be banished. You are on a thin rope, do not teeter off." Shen nodded and was led out by Samyou.

"That went better than I expected," Samyou said as he led Shen down the spiral stairs.

"What do you mean?" Shen asked as he drew level so he and Samyou could speak easier.

"I expected him to summon a thunderbolt and strike you down where you stood," Samyou mused.

"What!?" Shen shouted. "Why would you lead me here if it was just to be…" he trailed off as Samyou laughed hard enough he almost tripped. The Nomad only kept his feet by leaning heavily on his staff. "What?" Shen asked.

"We can't summon thunderbolts! Who do you think we are, Firebenders? I was messing with you," Samyou said. "You'll have to loosen up a little if you expect to fit in around here.

"I didn't think you would be 'loose,'" Shen admitted as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

"We're the nation of freedom Shen, we have fun around here," Samyou said. He led Shen to another tower and they met a younger monk, around Shen's age. "Sung here will show you to your room. You'll wake up tomorrow and begin your official Airbending training. Won't that be fun?"

"That quickly?" Shen asked.

"What, did you want to lie around for a week? You'll have some proper robes in the dormitories and a staff waiting for you. I think you'll learn to glide in a few weeks, after you master the basics," Samyou said. "Now I'm off. I've got to feed Horo and brush her down otherwise she'll be cranky all night," Samyou said. "Good luck."

Shen was led to a room and was glad to see it was private. He'd expected to have to room with a bunch of boys, which wouldn't have been new but in a place like this it made him nervous. Two sets of yellow tunics, brown pants and boots and orange shawls were piled on the bed as well as sheets. No blankets though, and in the cold from the glass and shutterless windows he shivered slightly. Not that he was unused to cold. A carved staff was leaning upright against the bed and Shen took it.

The wood was warm, as if it had just been let go of by its last holder and the wood was smooth. It had been carved, but Shen could tell that many hands had touched it from the softness of the wood. He spun it experimentally and dropped it when a fan of orange cloth held together with thin struts sprang out. The glider clattered to the ground and Shen picked it up. He was supposed to fly with this?

He put it down and pulled it closed with his hands then set the staff against the wall. The room was small, big enough for his bed and a small desk. He slumped down into the bed and fell into a deep sleep.

The next day he woke up to a bell clattering and quickly slipped on a set of robes. The room was cold and Shen felt as though his nose had frozen off in the night. He rushed out and followed the crowd of teenage boys to the dining room, where dozens of monks were eating. Some were doling out bowls of porridge, others were chopping up fruit. Shen's stomach growled and he quickly got some porridge for himself.

A lemur glided through the room and Shen quickly covered his bowl, but none of the other monks even seemed to notice as they tucked into their food. Shen quickly ate then asked one of the boys where the 'basic lessons' were being held. The boy looked at him for a moment then gave him directions.

When Shen arrived puffing twenty minutes later all the other students were there. They were also all between seven and nine.

"I'm sorry, I think I'm in the wrong place," Shen said, he started to turn ears burning when the older Air Nomad spoke up.

"You are the newest addition to the temple yes? You are Shen, I was told to expect you," the older man said, his iron gray beard wagging as he smiled. Some of the kids giggled as Shen took a place near the back of the small clump they formed. "For the new student, I am Monk Heiwa. Today we will be practicing the breeze pull technique. This is partially inspired by Waterbenders from the South Pole and allows you to feel your connection to the air around you."

The students all stood, as did Shen. He sank into Horse Stance, feet shoulder-width apart and knees bent. He felt rooted to the earth, connected. It was how Jung had started every training session. But looking around Shen realized the other students weren't doing what he was doing. They stood with their feet slightly apart, one in front of the other but placed wide for balance.

"I want you to take in a deep breath. Let the air flow through you, become a part of you," Monk Heiwa said. His nostrils flared as he breathed in deeply. Shen breathed in, slightly out of sync with the rest of the class. He felt the clear air fill his lungs, and for a moment felt a stirring all around him. "Now pull the air around you. Keep your wrists and elbows fluid and make a circular motion with your lower arms. Spread your fingers so that your chi can be dispersed evenly and become one with the breeze."

A dozen puffs of air flowed through the group of young Airbenders as they followed Monk Heiwa's instructions. The wind seemed to caress each young monk as it flowed around their bodies, spreading as it passed their waving hands. Shen tried to grasp the air, tried to feel it, and for a moment it was his, then it trickled away like water through fingers. The breeze didn't stir for him.

Shen frowned and bit his lip. He reached further, digging deep into himself, bringing up his warmth as Ranshao had taught him. He channelled the energy up his body from his stomach and thrust his fists forward. A short blast of air careened from his fists, a circle of force that impacted a tree that had grown over the lip of the ridge that the young monks were practicing on. The leaves were shaken from the tree. Shen brought his arms back to do it again, then realized everyone was staring at him.

"What?" he asked. Hadn't he done something similar to what they did? He might not have followed the directions that Monk Heiwa had given but he'd made the wind move at least.

"That is...not how we wish to move the air," Monk Heiwa said. "Violent squalls have their place, they are as much a part of nature as the gentle breeze, but we should not be their source."

"I'm sorry. It's just the only way I know how to reach the air," Shen said. The monk studied him for a moment, then breathed in and out.

"Please follow what the other students do. If you can't make a breeze there is no shame in that, the movement for now is the important part. When you move, feel the energy of your body moving outward, becoming one with the air. Spread the energy out, don't concentrate it," Monk Heiwa said. Shen nodded and the monk returned to the lesson.

The next lesson was meditation. Monk Heiwa taught them a mantra to help them help them focus their minds and allow their consciousnesses to wander as they would. Shen did the mantra, he closed his eyes and breathed, but all he felt was a sore butt from sitting there for an hour and a half.

Then came gliding practice. Because they were so young the monks didn't allow the younger ones to go to any altitude. They started from the ground. Shen used his air-leap technique, launching himself up and then opening the glider. This had diminishing returns, for though he was the first one up, he was also the first one down. Try as he might he couldn't get altitude and when he tried to bend the air around his glider it shook him rather than carried him.

The next task was the most humiliating. Monk Heiwa took them to a circle of door-like objects that were freestanding near each other, and then blew a wind into them. They spun, coming so close together they almost hit each other. Then he sent everyone through. Shen didn't even make it to the other side of the circle, and came out with a bruised cheek.

Evening meal was served with steamed vegetables and rice, and no meat. Shen had noticed the lack of meat at breakfast but hadn't thought much of it. Now he noticed. He leaned over to one of the kids he'd been training with that day and asked, "When do they serve meat?"

"We don't eat meat," the kid said, sounding shocked. "Why should an animal suffer for our satisfaction?" Shen didn't talk to him after that, just ate his rice and vegetables in silence. After he'd finished Monk Heiwa approached Shen. The other kids were going off to do their own thing and all Shen wanted to do was lie down in his cot. It had been a long day.

"Hello. I noticed you having trouble in today's lessons," Monk Heiwa said. Shen felt his stomach flop. Was he going to be cast out now? He couldn't say it would be a surprise after everything that had happened that day.

"I guess," he said.

"You grew up in the world with no teachers, if I remember what I was told correctly," Monk Heiwa said.

"Kind of. I learned some things from my father, Jung. He was an Earthcarver," Shen said.

"Really? I've seen some Earthcarvers, they're rare. I'd be interested in what he had to say on the subject," Monk Heiwa said.

"I'd be happy to tell you, but what did you want to talk to me about? I doubt it was about Earthcarving," Shen said.

"It wasn't," Monk Heiwa agreed. "I wanted to get to know you a little better. I see that you are having issues with connecting to the air. It isn't an uncommon problem, especially for those who've gone into the world for the first time on their own. It can feel like the world has polluted you to some, the ideologies of the other nations are so different from ours, and the differences are stark. But there is much wisdom out in the world as well. And having never been to an Airtemple before, I think that you would have that problem in a much more acute way than others."

"I suppose I do. I've had trouble with my Airbending ever since marauders killed my parents," Shen said. The pain that flowed through him at those words almost made him wince physically, but he kept it off his face.

"You have been through much. And I noticed something very similar to Firebending in the way you commanded the air," Monk Heiwa said.

"I also learned from a Firebender, after I started having trouble. He taught me how to concentrate the small amount of air that I could command so that I would be useful to him and his operation," Shen said.

"I see. I think I know how to help you open yourself up to the air, would you like that?" Monk Heiwa asked.

"Yes," Shen said. He followed the monk out of the dining hall and up a series of crags. Monk Heiwa led him to a spire of rock that had stairs carved into the side and had a flat top. Tiles formed the thri-swirl symbol of the Air Nomads. "It's cold," Shen said, shivering slightly in his robes.

"It is, if you let it be," Monk Heiwa said. He sat, legs crossed in a pretzel with his feet resting on his knees. Shen copied him and shifted, trying to feel warm. "The central tenent of the ways of the Air Nomads is freedom. It is our most important aspect. To have freedom we must let go of earthly attachment, to be truly one with the air. You feel loss over the deaths of your parents, do you not?" Monk Heiwa asked.

"Of course I do," Shen said.

"While it is sad that you will never speak to them in this life, know that their spirits have lived on. They have joined the universal harmony and are at peace. Someday, you too will be at peace. You can attain a measure of it here on earth. Breath with me," Monk Heiwa said.

Shen synced his breathing with Monk Heiwa's, and for a long time they let the air flow through them. Shen shivered for a while in the cold, but as he took the air in, warmed it and released it, he felt it less and less. His thoughts at first raced, but they slowed as boredom set in. Then they ceased, and he felt a kind of blank serenity take his being. His butt hurt for a while, but the pain cycled through him, and became unimportant to the point he didn't feel it at all.

How long he sat there Shen didn't know. He just breathed in and out. Jung's face, along with Mei Li's floated across his vision, and he felt pain thinking about them. But the cold air cleansed him, and the pain became an ache. Jung's face took on a sharp quality, then it seemed to soften, becoming a cloud. Mei Li's face did the same, and they swirled away. But Shen realized that they hadn't been destroyed, they'd become a part of something. They'd become part of the air. He felt his body, every muscle, every pounding beat of his heart, and even that became dim. He felt himself rising, and he looked up to the stars above as he floated up, up. He looked down as he drifted among the clouds, but the earth was far below him. It seemed so small from up here.

Shen gasped as he opened his eyes. He was covered in dew, and his short stubby hair was wet. Monk Heiwa's beard was in a similar state and the monk opened his eyes and smiled at Shen.

"You're journey has begun," he said. Shen bowed in the style of the Airbenders, and Monk Heiwa did the same. They went down to breakfast.

By the end of the first week Shen could coax a breeze to life as well as the others in his class. He studied with some of the students his own age as well, learning about the monks and gurus of ages past. There was a lot of truth to them, and Shen felt a serenity blossoming that he hadn't felt since the circus.

A month went by, and Slobber grew much bigger and stronger. The two were now flying together over the peaks of the Air Temple. Shen learned more and more forms for Airbending, progressing quickly through the levels. He was by no means a master, but he no longer felt so much like a stranger. He got to know many of the younger monks, and even had dinner with Samyou twice a week as the two discussed the readings Shen was doing. Learning to glide was the best part, Shen had never felt so free as when he was stirring the air into the glider's wings and soaring above the temple, feeling the caress of the clouds.

One evening, in his fifth week at the temple, Shen was with Slobber. They'd flown to the outer grounds where most of the larger gardens were and the lemurs liked to pilfer what they could from the trees. Shen and Slobber had grown quite fond of aerial maneuvers and the two were exhausted from training for the Bison Races. It would be a while before they qualified, they wouldn't make it to the serious one for this season, but they were mostly having a good time, like the other young monks.

Slobber ran his large tongue over Shen, and the burgeoning monk laughed as he tried to push the bison off him. He stood, feeling peace in his surroundings, and began a dance. Slobber watched him, tongue hanging out and a line of drool dripping down as Shen made a small circle. Leaves picked up as the breeze did, and Shen coaxed them up into a pattern of flight around his body.

He felt tears prick his eyes and flow down his face as he juggled the leaves in the small and slow funnel cloud that he was generating. The smell of the circus was in his nose. It was the smell of dirt and sweaty bodies. The musk of moose-lions and platypus-bears. The perfume of the dancers, and the thousand types of food that could be sold from sticks. For the first time Shen didn't feel a pain or grief with the tears, but a happiness that had been a long time coming.

Author's Note: It's been a while again. Oops! But you'll be happy to know that this is the second-to-last chapter in Shen's story. He's learned what it means to be an Airbender now. That will be tested in the next chapter, Two Headed Rat Viper. Both these chapters are going up, so click on the 'next' button! Hope you enjoy! ~LB